Ed Jimenez gathered with faculty and staff during a visit to the UF Health Shands Emergency Center at Springhill.
Curious to know what’s on the mind of UF Health Shands CEO Ed Jimenez? He’ll answer several questions in each edition of News&Notes. To submit a question, email taylt@shands.ufl.edu and we’ll consider it for an upcoming edition.
The UF Health Congenital Heart Center is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Tell us about the impact of this program.
The Congenital Heart Center is one of those ideal programs where a true team effort leads to superior clinical results. We help train the next generation of congenital heart care experts, and we’re at the forefront of new and emerging practices and technology. The center’s faculty and staff were the first in Florida to implant the SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart™ in a patient. That happened because there’s a team working together that’s capable of doing great things. There’s great leadership, and those leaders are very proud and eager to praise the work of everyone involved.
Why are volunteers so important to our organization?
Our volunteers represent something extraordinary … and that is somebody, given their competing choices in life, dedicating their time for no compensation. The motivation is different for everybody, whether it’s an aspiring medical student or a recently retired person. What they all have in common, regardless of their motivation, is that they want to do something to help others. We value the work of our volunteers tremendously and consider them important members of our team.
What’s your favorite part of your work week?
Monday mornings are my favorite part of the work week when I attend new employee orientation. I get a chance to meet every employee on the way in. Throughout the year, I miss maybe six new employee orientations at the most. I get a chance to tell them how proud I am that they made it here, because it’s not easy to make the cut — we get tens of thousands of applications to work here. I’m excited to tell them about the family they’re joining. I also get to set the stage about how we’re going to do great things together and help them understand what The Power of Together means.
What are some of your personal goals or resolutions for the New Year?
With my family, my kids are undergoing different transitions in their life — we have a high schooler, a middle schooler and an elementary schooler. They all have different needs and priorities and I want to figure out how I can be an even bigger part of their lives. My wife and I are celebrating our 20th anniversary this year. We’ve had a great 20 together and I hope for another 40 ahead. Then we’ll try for another 20 after that!
I’m always looking for ways to strengthen my personal commitment to UF Health. I want to support our staff’s efforts to achieve great patient outcomes with quality care and hospitable service, encourage positive employee engagement and continue developing the excellent services and programs we provide.
